editor's blog
Subscribe Now

Intentionally Fuzzy

All software has bugs; every system has some kind of vulnerability. And the canonical way of dealing with them is to fix the bugs or tighten the code to eliminate system weaknesses. And then we patch our systems, as anyone who has been late to the airport and has shut down their computer in a last-ditch effort to get out the door, only to have the computer say, “Updating 1 of 32… Please do not power down or unplug your computer,” can attest. (Because, when Windows decides it’s time to update, well, there’s not much in this universe that can out-prioritize that.)

Editorials aside, each of those patches required someone to find a problem, then figure out how to fix the problem, then actually fix it, and, finally, test to prove that the fix doesn’t do some other harm. And that all takes time. If the vulnerability is severe, then ne’er-do-wells could be out busily enjoying unfettered access to somewhere they’re not supposed to be while the hole is being plugged.

So, when it comes to security for important infrastructure like utilities and other industrial sites, you can’t wait for the fix. In fact, a fix might not even be forthcoming. Instead, you figure out what malevolent traffic might look like, and you block it. You’re not fixing the broken lock on the door to keep the burglar out; you’re simply putting a dog in front of the door to filter out the burglars.

This is the situation described to me by Wurldtech’s Greg Speakman and Nate Kube shortly after they announced that Siemens’s CERT lab had been certified on Wurldtech’s Achilles certification testing. Achilles is a test facility that includes “fuzzers” – tests that present equipment with traffic that is almost correct, but is mutated here or there. The idea is to see if such “nearly good” traffic can get in and cause an observable change in behavior (which might be benign or might have no deleterious effect unless sustained over time) or, worse yet, cause a system failure. They automatically create tests based on protocol standards and run those against their clients’ systems.

When issues are found, the signatures of the offending traffic enter their database and are used to strengthen the traffic filters. They claim to have found over 350 “0-days” for their clients. The oddly-named “0-day” refers to any vulnerability found by outsiders before the equipment company itself knows about it – they’ve had 0 days to respond to it.

That characterization makes sense for systems already out on the market, but apparently it still applies if a company contracts someone like Wurldtech to help with system validation before shipping the systems. The fact that the issue was found outside the company – even if at the company’s request, before any systems are shipped into the field – seems to qualify it as a 0-day (even though, if the equipment maker bought out the certification house or did similar testing in-house, then the same discovery would no longer be a 0-day).

You can find more on the recent Siemens certification in their release.

Leave a Reply

featured blogs
Nov 30, 2023
No one wants to waste unnecessary time in the model creation phase when using a modeling software. Rather than expect users to spend time trawling for published data and tediously model equipment items one by one from scratch, modeling software tends to include pre-configured...
Nov 27, 2023
See how we're harnessing generative AI throughout our suite of EDA tools with Synopsys.AI Copilot, the world's first GenAI capability for chip design.The post Meet Synopsys.ai Copilot, Industry's First GenAI Capability for Chip Design appeared first on Chip Design....
Nov 6, 2023
Suffice it to say that everyone and everything in these images was shot in-camera underwater, and that the results truly are haunting....

featured video

TDK CLT32 power inductors for ADAS and AD power management

Sponsored by TDK

Review the top 3 FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) regarding TDK’s CLT32 power inductors. Learn why these tiny power inductors address the most demanding reliability challenges of ADAS and AD power management.

Click here for more information

featured paper

Power and Performance Analysis of FIR Filters and FFTs on Intel Agilex® 7 FPGAs

Sponsored by Intel

Learn about the Future of Intel Programmable Solutions Group at intel.com/leap. The power and performance efficiency of digital signal processing (DSP) workloads play a significant role in the evolution of modern-day technology. Compare benchmarks of finite impulse response (FIR) filters and fast Fourier transform (FFT) designs on Intel Agilex® 7 FPGAs to publicly available results from AMD’s Versal* FPGAs and artificial intelligence engines.

Read more

featured chalk talk

Package Evolution for MOSFETs and Diodes
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Vishay
A limiting factor for both MOSFETs and diodes is power dissipation per unit area and your choice of packaging can make a big difference in power dissipation. In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and Brian Zachrel from Vishay investigate how package evolution has led to new advancements in diodes and MOSFETs including minimizing package resistance, increasing power density, and more! They also explore the benefits of using Vishay’s small and efficient PowerPAK® and eSMP® packages and the migration path you will need to keep in mind when using these solutions in your next design.
Jul 10, 2023
17,047 views